


A Bed of Our Own

by LizRambler



Series: Sleepovers [10]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22424737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizRambler/pseuds/LizRambler
Summary: The Doctor wants to spend alone time with Rose but everything at the house keeps interrupting.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Sleepovers [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531835
Comments: 21
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

The first time he disappears, Rose isn’t too worried. They had spent the previous evening talking into the small hours. The Doctor had fallen asleep mid-story about a giant wasp, one arm tossed over her stomach. He had been gone in the morning, a breakfast tray sat in his place with a hot pot of tea, toast, jam, and the butter dish. Jackie had seen him flipping the sonic first thing on day two and banned him permanently from cooking. So far he was trying to keep the peace even though she had caught him eyeing up the hob and the oven with a very specific glint. Rose knew it was only a matter of time before he started cooking in there. 

“Where’s he been?” Jackie asked as Rose sat down at the table.

“Pete dropped off his paperwork last night. He’s got a name and a passport and think he just wanted to get out of the house,” Rose remarked, picking at her fingernails. “He’s been a bit antsy, one planet, one country, one city, s’claustraphobic.” Rose certainly had itchy feet. He couldn’t be blamed for the same. In fact, she glanced at the door longingly. She should have snuck out today too. 

Jackie made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat before sliding a mug of tea across the granite countertop. “Rose,” she began, a sympathetic look on her face that immediately grated on Rose’s nerves.

“He’s not run off or anything stupid,” she growled, splashing sugar into the mug. “S’been a week of him stuck indoors while Pete got his name-”

“What sort of name is John Wilfred Noble, anyhow??” Jackie interrupted.

“Noble’s Donna’s last name… She was the Doctor’s best friend. You know that you’re just being difficult. Wilf was her grandad,” Rose explained for the tenth time. “Not that it matters. He’s the Doctor to me, to us. So don’t go calling him ‘John’ or anything naff like that to wind him up.” Rose glared to get her point across. Her mother glared, mulish for a second before backing down. “He’s over 900 years old. I’m not his babysitter.”

“Why not? That’s what the other Doctor, the proper one said. He’s all blood and fire and nonsense. You’re supposed to mind him. What if he’s his evil twin? What if he’s not an evil twin but he’s not as nice a twin. Is he thinking of growing a goatee?”

“Mum,” she growled running a hand over her face. “I thought we outgrew your being ridiculous about the Doctor phase. He’s not an evil twin. Don’t be stupid. You think the two-hearted Doctor would leave a bad version of himself with me?”

“No,” Jackie agreed, almost disappointed with the lack of drama, “I suppose not. But Rose, if you’re not his minder… What are you then? You sleeping with him yet? Because you need to protect yourself Pete and I thought we were being careful and well,” Jackie made a face.

“Stop, Mum, no, no, no,” Rose protested dropping her head into her hands. She felt a headache coming on. 

The Doctor hadn’t made any moves as of yet. He seemed a bit reticent to push too far, too fast. Rose was grateful. Her feelings had been a jumble. She wanted him, of course, she did. She just wanted to make sure they were both ready. Sleeping in the same bed was normalized. Personal boundaries vanished a little more each day. They were getting comfortable. Him with his new added in humanity (Donna-isms included) and Rose with his identity. She could no longer deny his complete Doctorishness. And his new Donna-ness was hilarious. The swearing was her favorite new trait. The fact that he always turned pink with embarrassment after a Donna slip made it all the more hysterical. Rose smirked.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you two get up to in that room of yours,” Jackie began.

“Leave it. Stop! Mum, stay out of it. Me and him are fine. Don’t think I’m not on to you. You keep sending Tony to wake us up early and at night for stories. Yeah! I can tell by what he’s not saying that you’re needling him.”

“The proper one would have had it out with me by now,” Jackie offered.

Rose’s headache bloomed. The lovely scent of tea turned her stomach. “Oh my God, Jaqueline Tyler you are terrorizing m’boyfriend! I’m not a kid. Leave it.”

Jackie sipped her tea, denying nothing. “Rose, but where is he! He should be here with you! Or he should be taking you with him, not sneaking off to do things on his own. The other one, the proper one, he’d never let you out of his sights, did he? Why’s this one swanning off for hours?” Jackie asked.

Grimacing, Rose pushed her mug away and got up from the counter. The Doctor had trusted Rose on her own on all manner of planets, even the less friendly ones. “I’m going up to my room. I’ve work tomorrow. Haven’t been in in ages. I helped save the multiverse and there are reams of paperwork and debriefing to do. I need to sort through my clothes…” And get some peace. And some paracementol. 

She regretted not getting the Doctor a mobile. He’d been gone half the day. Rose wasn’t worried he was leaving her. She was worried that he’d gotten himself into trouble. The Doctor was jeopardy friendly. A nagging worry did worm it way into her heart that maybe the mansion, her mother, her brother, and her father were too much family for him. They never got more than a few moments alone before someone was there, always there. Rose tore into the nail on her index finger. Aggravated that her old nervous habit had resurfaced about the exact same time the Doctor had come to live with her, she grumbled. Pulling open her dresser, she sorted through blouses, then trousers. God, her clothing was dull and depressing.

The Doctor breezed in as she was pairing a blue blouse with charcoal gray trousers. He had a garment bag over his arm. “Hello!” he chirruped, “Miss me?”

Rose held herself in place, unwilling to toss her insecure self into his waiting arms and beg him not to leave her. The toothy smile that lit up her face would have to be enough. “Nah. Mum did a bit. She grilled me over a mug of tea.”

“Aw, Jackie missed me that’s...that’s...terrifyingly out of character. We should make sure she hasn’t been possessed or has a brain tumor,” he teased. He touched the charcoal skirt. “Love this material. I do not love the idea of you going back to work for Torchwood without me.”

“It’s UNIT now, mostly,” Rose corrected, “and you can come with me.”

The Doctor made a face, muttering under his breath about Torchwood. “Erm, maybe. Yes, eventually. Well, yes, definitely, if they give me a lab in BigBen. Do you think they’d give me a lab in BigBen? I love a big clock. Did I ever tell you about the time I stole a bit of a beryllium clock on New Year's Eve?” 

He laid his garment bag on the bed. “I’d just regenerated. Was a bit of a mess...amnesia woke up in a morgue drawer. Still, better than that time I was poisoned.” He unzipped the garment bag. Rose spotted a hint of pinstripe.

Rose hung her clothes up and came to stand beside him. “Don’t you ever just wear out and regenerate peacefully?”

“Only the once,” he said with a frown. “I… was a bit strange for a day or two, exhausting becoming a different person. Most people do it through a lifetime of conscious choices.”

“You do it on a weekend,” Rose teased, pulling a dark blue suit from the garment bag. The pinstripe was a rich gold. “Love this. Oh, and this,” Rose pulled the charcoal suit with a subtle lighter gray pinstripe. She paused at the third suit. The familiar brown pinstripe suit sat on the bottom. Rose touched it and met his worried eyes. “Classic, this.”

A nervous laugh escaped him. He scratched at the back of his neck. “Erm… there are ties too.”

“Oh, I would have liked to pick out ties with you.” Rose patted the brown suit gently before turning to face him. “Afraid to go clothes shopping with me?”

The Doctor’s hands gently gripped her biceps. “No, not with you. With your mother.” Rose barked out a laugh. “I can’t,” he said blanching, “I can not, absolutely will not pick out velour tracksuits with your mother. I am a new man, but I am not that new of a man. Besides, this was the easy part. I want you to help me choose some other pieces. Perhaps a swishy coat.”

“Love a swishy coat,” Rose cooed as he preened and mimed wearing a swishy coat. “How about a cardigan?”

He paused. “Hm…”

“Jeans?”

Again he appeared puzzled. “I ah, erm, I pfft, I am… I don’t…” His ears turned that lovely shade of pink.

“Hey, if you want to wear the same suit every day, I’m okay with it. We’ll just get loads more oxfords. Oh, how about we go and pick out T-shirts. Or we could see a few bands and get you some of those to wear.” Rose watched as the tension left his shoulders and his hands slid down to grab hers and gently swing them. “My mum can buy your pants… What size are you?”

He tossed her hands down. “I am the last Timelord in this universe, and that is not happening, Rose Tyler. As much as I lov--”

The door banged open. The Doctor rolled his eyes and whirled away as Jackie chased Tony into the room. Rose scooped the little monster up and flipped him upside down before tossing the little boy onto the bed. The Doctor rescued his suits before ruffling the little boy’s hair. “Menace,” he whispered to make Tony laugh harder.

“Rose, can you watch Tony for a bit, I’ve got to pick up some wine, Bev’s coming over and you know how she is about her whites…” 

Rose glanced at the Doctor, who was showing Tony his disappearing coin trick. Tony cackled and tried to snatch the coin. The Doctor made it vanish again. He gave her a wink. Rose nodded. “Yeah, sure Mum. Pick up a Moscato for me. Something cheap.”

The Doctor snorted. “Yes, we would like the wine the regular people drink. Not that posh stuff Bev likes! And cake! Can you order more of that cake we had...at your mate Keisha’s house?”

“That was a mix!” Jackie squawked. 

“Can we get that mix?” the Doctor asked, eyes glittering. “Or, you could lift my kitchen ban and I could make it from sense memory…”

“No! You keep your alien paws off of my kitchen,” Jackie said. “I’ll get the box.”

“Brilliant! I can lick the bowl!” 

“I can lick the spoon,” Tony piped up.

Rose grinned. Maybe her family wasn’t too much family for him. Lying on the bed with her little brother, teasing her mother, the Doctor resembled a large happy house cat. Rose felt her heart unclench. Her whole body loosened up and she jumped on the bed to squeals of delight from her brother and her… her Doctor. They ate the whole cake. The Doctor was gloriously sick after.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions increase in the Tyler Household.

The second time he disappears, Rose noticed one of the large gemstones he’d brought with him from the Tardis was gone. Still, the Tardis coral was there nestled in Jackie’s favorite fruit bowl with sand and a slimy blue nutrient liquid. He wasn’t going anywhere without the coral.

Rose was upstairs hunting for her Tardis key. Back to work at UNIT, Rose had done three days of debriefing. She was talked out, tired, tense, cranky and looking forward to seeing the Doctor. He had finally agreed to come into UNIT and talk to Pete and Pete’s counterpart at UNIT. He still didn’t have a mobile. Rose was on tenterhooks wanting to know how it had gone. She had hoped for lunch together but Jake had come to find her when Callum demanded a personal briefing before he’d allow Rose to resume her duties. Rose was high up in the food chain but not high enough to avoid the bureaucrat. She had missed lunch. She had missed the Doctor. And now she couldn’t find her Tardis key. “Hi, Pete.”

Pete appeared as she pulled open the nightstand. Her key wasn’t there and neither was the largest gem. The Doctor had remarked that it was worth a lifetime of fresh hot chips. She still hadn’t had the heart to tell him about the potatoes here. The Tardis coral hummed lightly when she stroked it. She felt happy. She turned to face Pete.

“Heya Rose. how was the first day back?”

“Gruelling,” Rose puffed hair out of her face. “Callum for some reason didn’t believe me making three statements, a video version of the statement and spending four hours answering questions was in-depth enough.” 

Pete chuckled. “He’s a right monster when it comes to that stuff. Jake spent a month sending him the same email with the same answer until the bastard finally had to give up on it. He asks me about the case every time he sees me. Bit of a bear but he keeps the funding coming in.”

Rose nodded. “What’s up? Hiding from Mum?”

“Nah, your mother loves me. And if, if I were hiding from the love of my life, I’d be in the treehouse out back with Tony. I was looking for your odder half. Is the Doctor up here? I’d like to go over the details of his consulting contract.” 

“No. I haven’t seen him since this morning. He actually agreed to a contract? He didn’t yell at anyone about guns or soldiers or free cake and storm off?” she asked as a frizzle of worry ran through her. 

“Not at all,” Pete said, leaning against the door jamb. “Well, he wants his lab located in BigBen. That one went over like a lead balloon but UNIT is stationed there so I can make it work for him. He’s earned it. He suggested several improvements to our alien tech recovery program. He also suggested a few methods to help boost global production of staple crops…” Pete let out a breath and Rose got a hint of expensive scotch, “It was a lot of talking. I had someone record it. Easier to just let the information wash over, analyze later. The bigwigs were impressed at any rate. He even suggested four new Vitex flavors. Not sure how well banana vantalooberry will go over here since I have never heard of a ‘vantalooberry’ before.”

“S’a blue thing that tastes like a ball of fairy floss had a one night stand with a peppermint and a sort of grapefruit cousin…?” Rose had loved them in ice cream. “Sort of tingles in your mouth? Like Poprocks.”

“That sounds--edible?” Pete grinned looking around the room as if Rose were hiding the Doctor. “He left around two.”

“Dad, it’s seven,” Rose noted as the frizzle turned into a hint of nausea. Five hours was plenty of time for him to find trouble or trouble to clobber him.

“Hm, he needs a mobile.” Pete shrugged. “Don’t worry darling, he was happy, practically buzzing, bit annoying, really. How he doesn’t drive you half-mad with all his nattering on...” Her dad beamed.

“You live with my mum!” 

“The love of my life is not annoying.” Rose blinked. Pete snorted. “Oh, come on Rose! Your mother, my Jacks is a different kettle of fish, entirely. Her voice is a soothing balm on my troubled soul.”

“Yeah, right, sure, Dad,” Rose agreed, arching a brow at him. “The Doctor does wander off a bit. S’London. He knows it better than any other city. He’s probably off hunting for Diagon Alley just in case it’s real in this universe.”

Pete laughed. “You looked, didn’t you?” 

“Maybe.”

The Tylers grinned at each other. 

Downstairs there was a commotion. Pete and Rose raced down the stairs in time to see the loves of their lives glaring mutinously at one another. Jackie shouted, “I’ll do what I think is best!”

“It’s unnecessary,” the Doctor pleaded.

“Is it? Well, where have you been all day, then? Prove me wrong,” Jackie shot back.

“You… just… you… and… Augh!!!!!” Exasperated, the Doctor marched past Jackie and out into the back garden. Rose raced after him. Jackie called after her. Rose ignored her. Pete could handle Mum. Rose didn’t realize how hot she had become until she hit the cold night air. The Doctor was still on the back porch, leaning against the rail and staring up. His posture stiff, the Doctor’s hand on the rail was white where he gripped.

“Alright?” Rose approached cautiously. “Do you want to be alone?”

“Yes! Yes, more than anything!” he exploded, angrily.

Affronted, Rose turned to leave. He reached out and snagged her hand. Pulling her in close he tucked her into his side. His heart was thudding with adrenaline. His arm tightened. Rose automatically relaxed against him. He leaned his head against hers. His heart started to slow.

“Alright?” Rose asked again.

“Mm, yes, now is better, this is better,” he murmured into her hair. “S’nice.”

He was silent, his breath labored as he calmed down. Rose was not going to ask him what her mother had said. He wouldn’t answer. He never did. He’d sidestep it. The Doctor did not want to trash her mother. It was endearing and entirely out of character for him. Rose sighed. She just wished he felt comfortable enough to wreck the kitchen, to tell her Jackie was awful, to be rude. He wasn’t a guest in the mansion, he lived in it. 

“You got a job today,” Rose sang out softly, distracting him. 

He groaned. The arm around her rubbed gentle circles on her side. Rose had flashed cold at his outburst. She was warming up nicely as he stroked her. “I got my office in BigBen.”

“You are going to go mad from the ticking.” Rose couldn’t meet his gaze since he kept his head pressed into her hair. “Not to mention the bong, bong, bong.”

“Nah, I can keep that giant clock accurate with my perfect time sense. The bonging will remind me to eat, or leave, or I can time my experiments to them, not that I need…”

“Perfect time sense,” she repeated and earned a smile. “You’re mad.”

“A bit,” he agreed. “I’m hoping all the stairs will discourage visitors.” 

“Even me?” Rose bit her lip.

She was squished into him. “Nope, no, never you. You can always be where I am. In fact, I insisted on it. I made them agree to make you my boss, Rose.” She must have made a noise of surprise because his whole body rumbled with laughter. “Oh, come on, as if I’d listen to anyone other than you. It’s the only arrangement that makes sense, logistically.”

Rose grinned. “I’m going to make you do so much paperwork.”

“No, no, nope, never, ever going to happen,” he muttered. “We’ll hire an assistant for that… They can do your paperwork too so we can both not… do the paperwork.”

“Wasn’t Donna a temp? You’d be the best at paperwork if you got that skill. I bet you did along with the swearing and the love of gossip rags. Bet you can even type 100 words per minute,” she teased, “she was the…”

“Best temp in Chiswick!” They shouted together. Collapsing further into one another, Rose let all her tension out in giggles. He joined in. until they ran out of breath, falling silent. The warm rich scent of him surrounded her.

Rose turned in his embrace to face him. “You need a mobile.”

He bobbed his head. “Yes. Sorry. Yes, human thing, mobiles.”

“Most species we met had communicators, Doctor.”

“Yeah, yes, yep, you are correctamundo. Ew, not saying that again. Rose, I wanted to meet for lunch,” he began, eyes dipping from her eyes to her mouth as his voice dropped into the lower, rumblier tone. Rose went from warm to broiling. He licked his lips. “You were in a meeting, and I was disappointed. I thought I could take you for chips. Haven’t had them here yet. Proper date...for us. Alone.” The Doctor’s focus dipped again. Rose was drawn in. A flash of the kiss on the beach had her tipping her head up in anticipation. “Maybe take a walk around London,” he said, tone lower, leaning in so they were sharing breath. “Foil an invasion, maybe share a ki--”

“Get inside, it’s freezing,” Jackie said from the doorway.

The Doctor jumped away from her as if burned. “Blimey, Jackie!”

“Don’t you cuss at me. I’ll not have Rose catching her death because aliens can’t get the flu or whatever. Inside. It’s zero out here.”

“It is not, Rose can’t get the flu.” The Doctor waved off her concerns. “Not after traveling for years on the Tardis. She’s immune to practically everything except Carsivion Carcenomovirus. And that only affects vortisaurs so…” The Doctor trailed off as everyone stared. His eyebrows arched.

“Wait, what?” Rose mentally pivoted. “Really?”

“Yeah, strange illness. No one knows exactly where the vortisaurs contracted it. My vote is from the vampires' pet iguanas. Seems to only affect time-sensitive lizards… Why bother with a vaccine for a mammal?” The Doctor was nonplussed. He ruffled his hair, scratching at the back and his neck.

“No, not that-vampires had pet iguanas? No, wrong question,” Rose said, redirecting, “I can’t get sick, what ever? The… I have immunity to every disease?”

“Yeah, of course, can’t go traveling to different times and planets without it. You’d get sick,” the last part he said softly, drawn into her orbit again. His eyes were soft. “Basic time travel bump. Jackie’s got it too, Donna, Martha, and Mr. Mickey. Sarah Jane mostly, the Tardis was younger then, even Adam.” He made a face remembering the computer expert from Utah with annoyance. “Not that he deserved it… Oh, and Wilf! Gramp’s won’t even get so much as a sniffle now. That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Y’shoulda told me.” 

He blinked. “I-ah, it hadn’t occurred to me.”

Rose raised her eyebrows at him.

“Sorry?” He wasn’t. He was confused. He did not understand why not telling her was even a thing. Her stupid, silly genius of a man! She rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. He caught her hand and pressed it against his single heart.

“Inside!” Jakie shouted. 

“No, I’ve just explained why that’s stupid,” the Doctor argued even as he shivered.

Rose took his arm and glared at her bristling mother. “I want tea.”

The Doctor’s jaw was set until Rose affected a shiver. Then he was shuffling her inside and starting the kettle himself. Jackie retreated to the counter but didn’t leave the room. The Doctor ignored her as he set out mugs for two. Jackie opened her mouth but before she could say anything, he dropped a mug in front of her and a plate of biscuits.

“So, I’m immune to everything. Sort of feel like a superhero,” Rose said, breaking the tension.

Beaming, he poured tea into her mug, taking care to prepare it the way she liked. He then did Jackie’s and finally his own cup before replying, “Not angry?”

“No, no, wish I’d known sooner. There was an outbreak here of ebola. Coulda helped more without a hazard suit. Plus, I could have thanked the Tardis for it. Wait, can our blood help cure things?”

“Nah, no, well, maybe?” He trailed off. “Not sure it would show up on tests. It’s sort of time dispensed… We could run tests?”

“I’m not having my daughter be a Torchwood guinea pig…”

Rose and the Doctor sighed. “No of course not,” the Doctor agreed but that effectively shut the conversation down.

In bed that night, she broached it again. He said he’d do the tests himself in his brand new lab. Then he expounded on the location as a perfect lab. The Tardis would love it because of all the history there. Settling down into a lovely little cuddle, the Doctor’s gaze grew heated. The door bounced open. 

Tony exploded into the room with an armload of picture books for a bedtime story. Rose was going to murder her mother. Puffing out a breath, Rose helped Tony settle in between them. Tony handed the Doctor a book from the pile. He read it in a number of very silly voices to her brother’s delight. The Doctor read him three more when Tony insisted. Rose tried to stay awake to entice him into the kiss they kept almost having but the day caught up with her. She dropped off listening to his lovely voice and Tony’s happy squeals. 

Rose forgot to ask about the gem the next morning. She was too focused on having a conversation with her mother. She did ask him about the key. He swore it would turn up when the time was right.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The disappearances explained!

The third time he disappears, Rose gets angry. Not at the Doctor, he had left a note. She gets angry with Jackie. 

Her mum and her...her Doctor were at war openly now. The two of them had spent the weeks since Norway going from normal conversation, to terse statements, to sniping at each other. The last two days they had settled down into sullenly shooting glares at one another. Rose had had it.

“Off again, is he?” Jackie asked. 

Rose found her mother in the living room with a bottle of wine, a cheeseboard and the TV playing EastEnders. “Thought he said he wanted to spend his life with you? And where is he? These days he’s at work or he’s off on his own. He’s just not like the proper one, is he?”

“Mum, what’s wrong with him?” she demanded plopping down next to her. “Why are you trying so hard not to like him? We were practically family in the other universe! What’s he done?”

“He’s different,” Jackie admitted, sipping her wine. “I’m worried about you, sweetheart! What if he’s defective? The Doctor, he was not like this one. He sleeps a lot for him. He leaves mugs next to the sink! He’s taught Tony to swear in fourteen alien languages…”

Rose choked back a giggle. All of those things were exactly what the Doctor would do, either one of him? Them? 

“Thought he was going to be different. He hasn’t even tried to build a spaceship out of our dishes.”

“You won’t let him in your kitchen!” Rose protested. “You can be mad at him for being too alien one minute and not alien enough in the next. Yeah, he swears more. Yeah, he’s suddenly interested in who’s wearing it better on the blue carpet but that’s…” Regeneration for you.

Jackie was working herself up into a lather. “Yeah well, what if he’s too human?”

“What?” Rose felt another headache coming on.

“Now that he’s a human bloke, he might turn out to fail like one. What if he runs off with his secretary? What if you get depressed again?” Jackie asked, wringing her hands.

“Mum, he doesn’t have a secretary! No one lasts more than an hour with him. The last one ran out screaming! Pete told me to yell at him but I couldn’t stop laughing.” Jackie made a face that told Rose she was not reassuring. “Oh, come on! The Doctor was just showing her what a Zygon does to a person to copy their memories. It involved dumping organic matter over her head…”

“Rose…”

“I retconned her, the poor woman. She’s fine.” 

Jackie scowled. “Rose, I’m serious! What if the bit that’s Donna makes him like men now, or his heart gives out? You don’t know him! Even the proper Doctor said he was all fire and blood and whatsits! What’s that mean even? I’m your mother. It’s my job to protect you.” 

Rose rolled her eyes. “Mum, leave him alone. He’s not dangerous. The other Doctor was--” a prat about it, “laying it on thick so I’d choose him and you and Tony and this universe. He thought he knew what was best for me.” Rose felt bile rising for that idea. “The Doctor, this one, he’s fine. He’s good. He’s the Doctor and I picked him so I could stay with you. If you don’t stop chasing him away, you’ll lose us both. Stop sending Tony into our bedroom. That door is always locked. I know you have a key. And I want it.”

Jackie had the presence of mind to look chagrined. “I just don’t trust that one… He’s not the Doctor I knew.”

“So, get to know this one,” Rose offered. “Try.”

Rose’s mobile beeped. She pulled it loose from her work trousers and glanced at it. 

*Got a mobile. Save my number.*

Rose saved it under, “Sir Doctor of Tardis,” and shot off a response.

*Done. Come home.*

“It’s him, he’s got a mobile,” Rose told her mother when she glanced over, the nosey thing. Jackie grumbled. Rose sighed. Maybe it was time they got their own place. God, she loved her mother but Jaqueline Tyler never changed. 

*Nah, you come to me.* The text appeared with a map link in town.

“I gotta go.” She kissed her mother’s forehead. “Stop being mean.”

Rose took her car since the building had a parking garage. A second text had indicated which spot. Rose was caught up in the mystery of it now, grinning. 

*What are you up to?* She texted as she entered the posh building. It was old, well cared for and the style was sleek hardwood flooring in the lobby. Large windows face the street. The building had a section for mailboxes and Rose quickly realized she was in a building with at least five flats. 

*Top floor* The Doctor responded.

Rose took the ancient elevator with its metal gate. At the top, the elevator opened into a small red-painted hallway with a single Tardis blue door at the end. The door popped open. The Doctor stood there grinning. “You came!”

Rose hesitated. “Yeah, where am I, then?”

He shrugged. “Come and see.”

He stuck out his hand, wiggling the fingers. Rose rolled her eyes and caught it. The Doctor grinned boyishly and pulled her inside the flat. Rose got a glimpse of dark chocolate hardwood floors and white walls before she got tugged along. “We’ll paint the walls. Ignore that. I was thinking blue or warm stuff...no beige. This is the kitchen. It’s all-new stuff, no tinkering needed. Two ovens, that’s excessive. Good for baking biscuits or a ham, or a turkey and a ham, or...”

Rose let him pull her along to a large ensuite with blue slate walls. The shower stall was large enough for three. “There’s another bathroom with a large soaking tub as well. Love the blue.” Before Rose could comment they were off to two bedrooms that were blank canvases with large windows. “Who’s flat is this?” Rose asked, stomach churning.

“Mine. I bought it.” He tugged her along to a set of stairs. Rose let go of his hands to navigate the narrow staircase. He opened a hatch and she found herself staring up at bright stars. Breathless, Rose stared. The light pollution should have wiped most of them away but here, here she could see forever. “Wow.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, rocking on the balls of his feet. “It’s a trick. Perception filter. The view is real. It’s just from a bit farther up. Pretty.” He trailed off as a shooting star shot across the sky.

Rose stared, her eyes prickling. “You bought a flat.”

“Yeah,” he said.

“You never even told me you were looking,” Rose said and looked away from him.

“No, Rose, no, no, not like that…” he whispered reaching for her.

“You don’t want to live in the mansion?” she asked as she felt ice creep into her heart.

“No,” he said with a sigh, “I do not want to live in the mansion.”

Rose hugged herself. “You don’t want to live with me?”

He looked stricken. “No, wait, what? Well, no, I don’t want to live with you at the mansion. Rose Tyler, I want to live with you here in this flat.” He pulled her arms free and wrapped them around his own waist. “Don’t you like it?” 

“I--um,” Rose sniffed, a bit shell-shocked.

“Because if you don’t, I bought four more. We can live in whichever one you like best. I thought this was the best one because of the view but one of the other ones has a lovely back garden. Oh, and another one butts up against the Thames. If you like a riverview...Or, we could buy a different one in a month…” He tried to catch her eye. 

Rose trembled. She thumped his chest. “I thought you were dumping me, dumbo!”

“Whyever would I do that? Rose Tyler, I love you. I’m never leaving you. Even if you tossed me out on my--ear, I’d just stay fifty feet away and pine. You’d just have to watch me sulk and make sad sounds. I just… I’m, well, I need space for us. Space away from your mother.” Sheepish, the Doctor scratched at his scalp, messing up his hair. “She doesn’t like me this time around and the constant threats are wearing on me. Besides, she is *always* there.” He tugged on his ear. “Two nights ago, I got up at three AM for a glass of water and she was in the kitchen. She asked me if I’d decided to abandon you yet…”

Rose puffed out a breath. “I knew she was being overprotective.” The Doctor made a face. “Yeah, alright. But this… is mental.”

“Is it?” The Doctor looked a bit desperate. “Rose, she watches me. She wakes me up poking her nose in to see if I’m there. Rose...every time I try to kiss you, she’s there. And I really want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?” he begged.

“No. Explain to me where you got the money for all this. And why you didn’t just talk to me about buying a flat and why you didn’t let me help you shop for it. I’m not mad.” Rose added.

“Oh, I don’t believe that for a minute. You Rose Tyler, are furious with me. I can tell. That little wrinkle between your brows is there and your lovely dark eyebrows are pulled down. Classic angry Rose signs and you’re not kissing me.” He sighed tragically. “I had thought this was the perfect solution.”

“As opposed to talking to me?” Rose glared. He wilted. “Did you talk to Mum about any of this?”

“Yes! I told her she was hovering. You saw her reaction. I begged her for time for us and she’s got it in her head that I’m going to hurt you by staying or hurt you by leaving or both, somehow? Do you think this is a reaction to you almost leaving her for me again?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah ‘course.” Rose glanced up again. “This view is amazing.”

“And I’ll let you take me shopping to furnish it. I may have inherited a love of patterns from a certain temp turned savior of the universe. Plus, paint chips, and did you see the shower?” The Doctor was selling hard as he circled her. 

“Is this why you haven’t so much as made a move since the first night? My mum?”

“I put a bed in the master bedroom,” the Doctor said, ignoring her astute observation. “Well, I put a bed in all of the master bedrooms.”

“You bought four flats,” Rose said, piecing it together, “to get me into bed.” A grin caught fire on her face as he petered out, sputtering nonsense. “You did! You are so…”

He stilled, waiting.

“Show me this master bedroom,” Rose ordered.

The Doctor burst into motion, catching her hand and ushering her back down the stairs. Rose laughed as he scooped her up and carried her down the short hall to the master bedroom. Rose saw a large window, a larger bed and a generous amount of closet space before she landed on the bed. The Doctor jumped in after her. They decided the best way to test the bed was to jump up and down on it. Laughing, they hopped until they fell down breathless next to one another. Rose reached out to ruffle his hair. The Doctor leaned into her hand. She stared at him. “You thought of closet space,” she said glancing over at the walk-in closet.

He nodded. “For some reason, I thought it would work better if it had the little spinny thing for multiple pairs of shoes. I suppose I could get more pairs of chucks? Not sure why…” 

Giggling, she rolled onto her back. He rolled half on top of her. “What?”

“You’re a wonderful woman, you know that Doctor?” She touched her tongue to her teeth and he flushed. Rose reached up to cup his cheek. “I do love you.”

His eyes turned to liquid chocolate, his expression tender. “Oh, good. I was worried.”

“You bought four flats.”

“I did,” he said as a giggle escaped him. “I’d do it again. What do you say, Rose Tyler? Do you want to live here with me?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen the other three flats,” Rose teased.

His weight on her was beginning to send warmth through her entire body. He was staring at her mouth again. “Please, Rose, please. I want to do things with you, to you. Things like we used to do.” The rumble was back. He was practically purring into her ear. “Remember that box in the library? Remember that time on the Eye of Orion? I especially liked that thing you did on the roller coaster in Coney Island. I wouldn’t mind doing that thing with my tongue if you did the thing where you press your--” Rose slapped a hand over his mouth, flushing.

The Doctor stared at her with wide hopeful brown eyes. “I should be furious with you.”

He nodded.

“I should.” She took her hand away. “You should have talked to me.

“I…” he bowed his head. “I got caught up in the plan and keeping it from your mother. She didn’t follow you here, did she?” The Doctor glanced out the window as if he expected Jackie Tyler to be staring in. 

“No, shut up,” Rose said. “It may have occurred to me that living with my mother was not the perfect solution for us.”

“Does that mean you might consider living here with me?” 

“Okay. Let’s live here.” Rose wrapped her arms around his waist. He was in his new darker blue suit. Rose liked the fabric a lot and gave it a stroke. The Doctor practically purred.

“Yes?” 

“Yes, yeah, okay, we can live here. We need our own place. And that shower is enormous. And…” Rose gave him a hot look and a once over.

“And?” he asked hopefully.

“No more disappearing?” Rose demanded, giving him an aggressive squeeze.

“No need,” he squeaked, “unless you decide against the sex because this body is so reactive.” He grimaced. “And you smell fantastic like sunshine and your shampoo and like lovely human come hither pheromones.”

The Doctor smelled spicy and a bit like her shampoo. 

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he slid off of her. Rose moaned at the loss as he sat back on his heels and reached into his pocket and pulled loose her key. “There you go. I nicked it.”

“Why do you have my Tardis key?” Rose asked, taking it off of him and slipping it over her head and nestling the key between her breasts. His eyes followed that key hungrily. Rose tapped his nose.

“I nicked it,” he repeated, blinking to clear his head. “Ah, erm, I may have made the lock to this house match that key.”

Touched, Rose grabbed him by his lapels and slammed their mouths together. Startled, the Doctor’s arms took a second to wrap around her. He pushed her back against the bed, groaning into her mouth. The evidence of the toll the last month was taking on both of them boiled over as clothes went flying to the four corners of the room. Rose was impressed by his ability to think as he made sure things were safe. Searching for his discarded suit jacket, he pulled a long strip of condoms out. Rose laughed and tried her best to make him use all of them. 

Rose woke up to tea. The Doctor was in boxers. Eyes bright and his hair was a riot. “I could get used to this,” Rose said stretching.

The Doctor kissed her gently as soon as she was sitting. The familiar taste of his mouth and tea filled her with love. Rose languidly sank into the kiss. She made his hair worse, tugging it into peaks. He reciprocated while trying to memorize the inside of her mouth with his tongue alone.

Breaking apart for air, they beamed at one another. “Oh, I’m addicted. I think. Human hormones are,” he whooshed out a breath, “different. Intense. And I thought before was pretty great. I can’t stop now.” He kissed her again. “One more.” Laughing, Rose happily kissed back.

“Last night was perfect,” Rose announced, coming up for air. Her thighs and back protested from their rather acrobatic use the previous night. 

The Doctor sat beside her, expression turning serious. “Every night from now on can be like that Rose. If…”

“If?”

“You promise to never ever tell Jackie where we live.”

Rose hit him with a pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading all this fluff. You have cavities now, sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I keep trying to get to this one story and more keep popping up in-between. I don't like making Jackie the villain. She's more of the over-concerned parent in this.


End file.
